Princess Lechi Tran Rodriguez

Princess Lechi Tran Rodriguez died at Autumn Care of Fayetteville on June 1, 2018.  She was 88. 

A direct descendant of the Emperor of Annam, Lechi was born in Hanoi, Vietnam the daughter of the late Princess Nam Tran and the late Ambassador Tran Van Chuong. 

She is survived by her husband, Colonel Enrique Rodriguez and her two daughters, Ledzung Larned and Dr. Levan Kuck.

A critic of the excesses and the corruption of the ruling family in Vietnam, Lechi and her two daughters were expelled from the country by her sister, Madam Nhu, and came to the United States in 1962.  Strongly anti-communist, Lechi dedicated herself supporting the US effort in Vietnam.  She made a career with the United States Army Special Warfare Center teaching language and culture to Special Forces soldiers deploying to Vietnam and later as an intelligence analyst developing psychological warfare profiles.  She earned a doctorate at North Carolina State University and is the author of the The Unique Characteristics of the Vietnamese Culture That Affect the Process of Adjustment of Vietnamese Refugees to American Culture.  Lechi was an accomplished painter of portraits and vibrant landscapes capturing the essence of her Vietnamese experience.  Intelligent and talented, Lechi was a woman of great beauty and personal charm.

Mass will be held Friday, June 8, 2018 at 12:30 pm at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in Raeford.

Arrangements for the family are entrusted to LaFayette Funeral Home, 6651 Raeford Rd. Fayetteville, NC 28304. On-line condolences may be made at www.lafayettefh.com.

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